Stage 2 of Belgrade Banjaluka took the peloton from Obrenovac over to the Bosnian side into Zvornik. 167 kilometers needed to be tackled on a pancake-flat stage. The course began with a long headwind section along the river Sava, and Team United Shipping controlled any attacks in order to protect Veljko Stojnić’s general classification position. DS Dejan Percic noted that while the pace wasn’t blistering, the squad stayed vigilant at the front to neutralize any threats. In the closing section of the stage, János Pelikán and Csongor Kardos jumped into an attack with a dozen or so riders, building a gap of 40–50 seconds. This move forced the other sprinter teams to burn their matches to close the gap, which they finally did with 5 kilometers to go. In the finale, teamwork was the name of the game: with Veljko Stojnić acting as the final lead-out man, Nikiforos Arvanitou opened a long sprint from 300 meters out. His explosive power left the competition behind, securing the win with a massive gap over the rest of the bunch. Thankfully, the day remained incident-free for the team, providing a much-needed boost after Luca’s crash yesterday.
Niki’s 300-Meter Key:
Yesterday I was frustrated because I knew I could win, but the positioning wasn’t ideal. Today I was feeling quite okay—maybe not perfect because of the long trip we had—but I started to find my legs.
The last few kilometers were quite good. Teamwork was excellent again; Veljko and Rastko did a great job positioning me in the final kilometers. I had an ideal position and started my sprint from a bit further than 300 meters out, eventually winning with a bigger gap. This year, I have started my sprints from this distance at least four times and won all of them, so it looks like that is the key!
I like these pancake-flat stages, but I also like when it is a bit more hilly so the stage can be more selective, resulting in a less crazy final.
Rastko on home turf:
My role today was to control the breakaway a bit and then be there for Niki at the end, which I think I managed to do. I was pulling with 3 km to go, keeping everyone at the front.
The race was controlled by the Serbian National team most of the time, but on the crosswind sections, other teams tried to attack and split the peloton. Those were the moments where the race felt really hard today.
I’m really enjoying the vibe here on home roads! The plan for the next stages will be more or less the same: we will try to do a good leadout for Niki, provided there is no breakaway.
Photo: Marcell Lippai
